FS: 97 Estoril Blue e36 M3 sedan 5sp (Sunbelts, TCKline, more)

[Cheeze1]

BIMMERPOST / Classifieds

Asking Price:

None

Item Interest

1997 Estoril Blue M3 sedan (4 door) manual 5sp w/ 159,2xx miles
$7,000
contact via forum Private Message. Located near Philadelphia.






Engine:
Sunbelt sport cams
Bimmerworld tune
22# injectors
3.5" MAF
m50 manifold
Dr Vanos Stg 2
K&N intake
Top-end completely rebuilt ~15k miles ago after headgasket finally went


Suspension:
TCKline D/A coilovers front, 550#
TCKline S/A coilovers rear, 650#
TCKline Camber plates
Adjustable rear lower control arms
Corner-balanced
X-brace
Kosei K1 wheels (17lbs) 17x8.5 245/40 all four corners w/Bridgestone Potenzas
wheel studs
5mm spacers front


Other:
Performance Friction 06 Pads
Performance Friction rotors front
Motion Motorsports underpanel
UUC Short Shift kit
Schroth 4-point harnesses (installed alongside regular seatbelts, either can be used)


Exterior:
Depo headlights w/ TFX Projector retrofit 6000k HIDs
Clear corners all around
Black kidneys
LTW white mid-trim door badges


Interior:
Carbon Fiber center console
Carbon Fiber glovebox trim
Carbon Fiber gauge surround
18 button OBC (needs wired up)
Grey gauge faces w/ rings
Momo shift knob
Kenwood Headunit w/ aux input
Metal e-brake handle


Recently completed major maintenance items:
Top-end completely rebuilt ~15k ago after headgasket finally went, engine was extremely clean
Brand new Clutch and Pilot bearing ~10k ago
New (used but in excellent condition) transmission ~10k ago
Oil change <500 miles / 2 months ago
Brake fluid change <500 miles / 2 months ago


Extras included:
4x DSII wheels with Blizzak LM25 snow tires
Brand new PFC front rotors
Used but in excellent condition OE front bumper (Cosmos Black)



Summary:
This car drives like an absolute dream, but is now starting to show its age via some rust. If you can work with the most significant issues (rust, and baked paint on the trunk) and put some TLC into her then this is a driver's nirvana. If you're looking for a pristine e36 garage queen this is unfortunately not the car for you.


Description:
Welp, I never thought this day would come, I was quite literally planning on using my e36 as my coffin one day. However this car needs rescued from me before it's too late. I used to take exceptional care of her until I moved into a condo 5 years ago where I could not work on her as-needed. During that time, although driven relatively little miles, she started to bake in the sun and rust in the winters and largely just sit otherwise. Life's priorities have changed for me, as they apparently do, and since I do not have the facilities nor time to properly take care of her anymore it's time to let her go to someone who can.

I am the third owner of the car, purchased at 80k miles and I knew the second owner. Engine oil and filter changed every 5k miles max with Mobil 1 full synthetic. I installed the Sunbelts and had the entire top-end rebuilt about 15k miles ago when the headgasket finally went. The engine looked excpetionally clean at that time and thus the decision to add the Sunbelts and rebuild. All work that I couldn't confidently do myself was performed professionally by Bavarian Specialties in King of Prussia. Installed a brand new clutch, pilot bearing, and a used (but good) transmission about 10k miles ago. The entire powertrain is extremely strong. This car personifies the term 'handling on rails' with its suspension tuning and everyone who has driven it (track Instructors) comments on how well it is setup. It really does drive an order of magnitude better than it did fresh-off-the-lot all those years ago, and the rare Sunbelt cams completely change the feel of the engine to classic M high-reving N/A.

Let's get to the issues then. This may seem like a long list, and maybe it is, but I hope you see I am being completely upfront about the sale as a reflection of how much I cared for this car. I will only be listing this on a few particular forums (for the time being) in the hopes that she goes to someone who will love her as much as i did. So here is the entire list of known issues then, in order from most significant to least:


ISSUES (pics included further down):
1) Rust - There is a fair amount of rust on the underside. Near the trunk latch it has boiled up through the paint, and is just starting to on the left rear wheel fender (see pics below).

2) Paint - On the trunk top the clearcoat/paint has become pretty sunbaked and damaged. It is just starting to become damaged on the left C-Pillar. On the rear bumper below the license plate the CC is also starting to peel. The small lip spoiler on the trunk popped off this past winter after a bad ice storm so the adhesive from it is still attached but is removable. Excluding the front bumper the paint is actually in very good shape otherwise.

3) Secondary air pump missing. When this finally died a few years ago I just removed it as it is only used for emissions on cold startup. It causes a CEL and thus will fail emissions test, however since I was driving the car less than 5K miles per year I was exempt from emissions in PA so this was not an issue. To the best of my knowledge adding the pump back (easy and cheap) will get it to pass emissions again, or if you live in PA and will drive it less than 5k per year just leave it removed.

4) Front bumper is pretty jacked up, there is a large crack on the right front and the left side is pulled away from the body a bit. The bumper is on securely/safely, just pretty jacked up. Fog lights have been removed. I am including another OE bumper (Cosmos Black) with the car that is in excellent condition.

5) Interior - The drivers seat has definitely seen better days. The rest of the interior is presently pretty dirty but should actually clean up very nicely. The only exception would be the headliner behind the sunroof, it started to come loose and was less-than-perfectly glued back in place. The front speakers are flaky. The 18-button OBC still needs wired up. On very cold days the speedometer needle may stick against the gauge face sometimes.

6) The airbag light is on. I can't recall exactly what this was for (I believe the passenger seat sensor) but I do remember that this particular issue will still default to the airbag being deployed in an accident so it is 'ok'.

7) Hood roundel sticker has peeled off (told you I'd include everything)



PICS of issues. All pics are unedited straight off my cellphone except for cropping, resizing, and removing license plate numbers:

Rust on underside:







Paint damage (sun) on trunk. The white/black stuff on the back edge is the adhesive from the lip spoiler that popped off this past winter, it can be removed and the paint should be good underneath it:





Closer look at the trunk latch rust and CC starting to peel on rear bumper. Again aside from these places the paint is actually in very good shape elsewhere:





Some fading just starting to appear on the rear C pillar:





Small patch of rust on left rear wheel arch:





Front bumper pulled off left side a bit:





Driver's seat:




Headliner is secure but not pretty:





Please don't hesitate to reach out to me (via forum PM) with any questions. I will try to make it on at least once a day but please be patient if I don't respond immediately, I will get back to you.

Thanks,
-Phil

edit:
Posting answers to some questions I've been getting:

Is the title clean?

The title is clear. My friend slowly backed into it once with his pickup truck and the tow hitch made a nice dent right between the kidney grilles. The damage was purely cosmetic. He coincidentally had owned an Estoril e36 M3 himself so he was very upset about it and paid for everything to be repaired correctly. New OE nose piece and was painted at a professional shop, good as new.

Any more pictures of the rust on the underside?

I should be able to get better pics this weekend.

Compression / leakdown numbers?

I do not have compression/leak down numbers but I have no reason to suspect any problems. When the HG went and the Sunbelts were installed my mechanic (Mike Yaskin @ Bavarian Specialties) said everything looked exceptionally clean and it certainly feels that way.

Dyno numbers?

Not with the Sunbelts. I do have dyno numbers from not long after I purchased the car with a lesser set of mods if that's of interest.

How many miles on the TCKlines?

The TCKlines were installed summer of 2007 with around 95-100k miles on the car. I wish I had kept a better log of dates/miles with this car, one of my lessons learned. So I would say they have about 60k miles on them give or take a few. IIRC they come with a lifetime warranty but I'd have to check on that.

Life remaining on tires and brakes?

I'll get more precise numbers this weekend when I take more pics but I want to say ~50% on the tires and maybe a bit less on the brake pads. I'll confirm.

Do you have street pads you could include?

Yes, used. Will get life remaining this weekend as well.

Describe the extra Performance Friction rotors, do they come with the hat/nuts?

They are a pair of brand new in box PF front rotors. My understanding is that you reuse the hat and nuts from the currently installed PF rotors.

[Cheeze1]

Added answers to questions I've been getting to the end of the original post.

[Cheeze1]

Added maintenance history and tons of pics. Please follow this thread:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...s-TCKline-more)